A New Subordinate
by Aggie
Summary: Betty is invited by Dylan to watch him and his band perform at Mindallen Hall. However, Maximus has hired a second assistant for his newest plan, which interferes with Betty’s own schedule. Little does she know what this new assistant can do..
1. Prologue

**A New Subordinate **

_Disclaimer: I do not own Atomic Betty or any of the characters from the cartoon series. The show is owned by Atomic Cartoons Inc._

We need more Atomic Betty fics out there! Ahem, hello. My name's Aggie and although I have a lot of other fics that need to be completed, I could not help but begin one from this Canadian cartoon. The animation quickly caught my attention, and now I watch it not for the plot (which could be better..), but for the characters. My favourite character is Minimus, so you can bet that you'll be reading about him more than you would see him in an episode. Before I move on to the prologue, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) Whenever Minimus speaks, the plain text will indicate his sycophant mode while the **bold text** his grumbler mode. This relieves me from the stress of having to type out whenever he switches from sycophant to grumbler or vice versa all the time. Plus, it has a better flow. You'll see.

2) Yeh, I'm going to introduce a fan character, on the villain side. I won't make any coupling (Mary sues) or anything like that, and I will certainly not make the fan character take the spotlight of the protagonists. New characters are introduced a lot in the series, so I think it'll work in this case.

Okay, that's it. I hope you enjoy my fic, and please review once you have finished reading it/dot dot smile/

* * *

_Prologue _

Betty went through the same common routine in the morning of her home.. to the point when it was far too tedious to explain the details. Her parental units acted normal in their belief, which Betty had reluctantly accepted. The only advantage she had when the sun rose was having a hearty breakfast which would last her well beyond lunch.

Luckily, she did not have to feel uncomfortable around the environment of her school. There, the individuals were her age, or very close to it, and had an equal understanding of the world. Of the galaxy.. well.. having Betty to cover that was more than enough. Never would she dare to overlap her school life with her more constructive job as Galactic Guardian and Defender of the Cosmos. Ever since obtaining this status, she had sometimes looked upon the other students with a different perspective. There they were, along with billions of other people in the world, oblivious to the action and chaos that weaved through the universe. However, she did her best to ignore this and act.. no.. _be_ a normal girl.

The morning school bell rang deafeningly, as if it were ready to cause an earthquake to the entire school grounds. Betty raced into the building, but who did she find first? Why, none other than her admirer, Dylan. He stood there the instant she opened the doors, as if he had done so intentionally, with Betty being too predictable for him.

"Hey Betty!" Dylan said coolly.

"Oh, hi Dylan!" Betty responded, her voice sounding a bit awkward in front of him. However, she managed to maintain her composure as she continued to speak. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't we get to class?"

"Well," Dylan began once more, "I didn't see you at the lockers so I thought you might be coming now. Wanna walk to class together?"

This was just what Betty had hoped to hear. Her heart melted as she nodded and began walking with him through the emptying hallway and towards the classroom. This was a mild desire, but just being near him was good enough for Betty as she helplessly closed her eyes and pictured Dylan and her in a beautiful scenery filled with scattered colours and limitless love between the two of them.

"Uh, Betty?" Dylan's voice echoed through Betty's ear as she opened her eyes from the daydream. They were in front of the class, where the students began finding their seats and preparing for the lecture. Betty shook her head to waking, realizing how ridiculous her childish fantasies were.

"S-sorry about that. I'll see you later," Betty said, walking in front of Dylan and into the room. Another day of monotonous education stood before them.

* * *

"Your supreme evilness, everything on your schedule is flowing smoothly," Minimus announced as he looked upwards towards his master, Maximus. "**So what are you sitting in your chair for? You give me a long to-do list and I've done everything! What more do you want?**" 

"Shut up, Minimus. I'm waiting for a phone call," Maximus ordered, placing two fingers to his right temple and roughly massaging it, hoping this was ease the headache that only continued to grow.

"But sir, your new apprentice is not to arrive until tomorrow," Minimus continued, trying desperately to keep a conversation going with Maximus, completely oblivious to the signs that he wished to be left alone. "**Who cares anyway? He will probably be late and we'll have to deal with never-ending stupidity from an outsider!"**

Just then, the technologically advanced phone rang. It was connected to a screen which would be useful in conversing visually. But instead, while the phone was still ringing, a message flashed across the screen, "Visual communication not available from this current location." This message would always pop up when someone was calling from a very secluded area. However, communication by normal telephone was possible.

Maximus did not seem the slightest bit surprised at message on the screen. Letting out a relieved sigh, he picked it up the receiver and eagerly put his mouth to the edge. "Hello?" he spoke into it. "Ah, yes, I was expecting your call. Mmhmm. Oh no, we're both eagerly waiting for you to arrive." At this point, Minimus, in his grumbler mode, let out a loud grunt, which Maximus obviously disregarded.

"Yes. Oh, that's good. Alright then, everything else will be settled tomorrow. Mmhmm. Goodbye." Once he put the phone down, he cupped his hands together in pure delight.

"This is going to be perfect," he said with his teeth closed, unable to contain his excitement. His headache was by far gone as he focused on what would occur the next day. Unfortunately, his concentration was interrupted once more by Minimus' nagging.

"**Argh, why must you hire another lousy assistant? Am I not good enough for you! **Just asking out of curiousity, your lordship."

"If Atomic Betty keeps foiling my plans, then yes, you are definitely not good enough," he informed Minimus while doing his best to ignore his lackey's loud mumbles. "I require someone who has in depth experience in the action, in addition to the intelligence that is lacking from my previous assistant."

"**What! Oooh, so that's how it is. You'll be regretting those words very soon, boss,**" Minimus said under his breath.

"What did you say!" Maximus roared, clearly overhearing his words.

"Oh, nothing, your sliminess," Minimus whimpered as his sycophant face returned. "But how are you so sure that another assistant will prove helpful?"

"This is no ordinary individual," Maximus continued. "My new assistant has been training for many years with.. Spurdly Tim Kanishi."

"Spurdly Tim Kanishi... erm... do you mean... Spindly Tam Kanushu? Why would he teach someone who wants to fight for the forces of evil?"

"No! I meant precisely what I said, you idiot! _Spurdly Tim Kanishi_! He is Spindly Tam Kanushu's evil half cousin.. twice removed I believed. He teaches a dark form of martial arts to only a small, select group of students. My new apprentice has just graduated from his class and wished to obtain a job as soon as possible, so I wasted no time to make a call.

"Sir.. if he is truly better than me.. will you.." Minimus swallowed uncomfortably between his words, "uh.. fire me?"

"Well, I would certainly hope that the opportunity arrives," Maximus said bluntly.

"**Grrr.. I'll make sure it doesn't.** So when is he going to arrive?"

At this point, Maximus left his chair and paced around while looking into the depths of outer space. "Tomorrow, at approximately 5 pm sharp, _she_ will arrive and be deemed my new, additional subordinate.

Minimus gasped loudly as his sycophant face swerved back to grumbler.

"**IT'S A GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL?**"

* * *

The end of the school day had finally come, which was dignified by a loud, yet prosperous bell ring. The sound startled Betty, interrupting her negligence. If the student sitting beside her in the class had looked in her direction, it would seem like she was doing nothing but staring at the Canadian flag outside of the building. Betty could not stop herself from preparing to fall asleep in class; she had been very busy lately with her galactic missions. She stopped her distraction and headed out of the class. 

All she needed to do was grab the necessities from her locker and head for freedom. When she closed the door to her locker, she was yet again startled to see who was beside her.

"Hey Betty," Dylan said, with a casual smile.

"Oh, hi Dylan," Betty answered with an even larger smile. Much of her daydreaming had consisted of the last time she was with him, which was only a few hours ago. She tried her best to avoid having Dylan notice the blush across her cheeks, but the attempt was failing.

"Listen, are you busy tomorrow night?" Dylan said, getting straight to the point. Betty's eyes widened, eager to know what his point was.

"Well," Betty commenced. She truly wanted to say 'no', but this was a question that needed pondering rather than only a single thought. _Did_ she have any plans tomorrow? Well, not that she could think of. However, Admiral DeGill could call her at any time of the day. Missions came promptly, and it was Betty.. Atomic Betty's job to meet with these strict rules in order to keep the galaxy safe. She could try, but would she dare take the chance after the experience she had with constantly ditching Noah when she had to leave? The last person she wanted to disappoint was Dylan, but would she let this one opportunity leave her grasp?

"Nope, not at all," Betty responded blatantly. She took the risk. She was used to taking these gambles anyway.

"Oh, that's great!" he exclaimed. Surely, just that one response made Betty's heart soar. "I'm asking because tomorrow night at the Mindallen Hall, my band's going to be playing."

"Oooh, you have a band? What instrument do you play?" Betty accidentally interrupted, oblivious to Dylan's musical talent, yet impressed by it in a second.

"I do guitar and vocal," Dylan answered. He could not help but continue talking about his interests. "I've been playing guitar ever since I was six, but since our vocalist switched schools, I've just taken over.. so I'm new with singing, but my band members say I'm pretty good, so I'm confident that I'll do well."

"That's wonderful," Betty sighed. How could she not know about his musical background?

"So, would you be able to come? I can give you a free ticket tomorrow after school," he said, snapping Betty out of another daydream.

"Oh, thank you so much! I'll be there for sure!" There was no doubt about it. Betty would not miss this for the galaxy.. well.. maybe.

"Ah, that's great! I'll see you tomorrow then," he ended the chat with raising his hand and bringing it down again as a form of departure. Betty did the same thing as she watched the boy trail off in a distance.

She sighed in disbelief at the opportunity that was given to her. Tomorrow night, she would be seeing Dylan perform.. and who knows? Maybe she'll meet him afterwards and they would go somewhere! _Okay, slow down there Betty.. _she said to herself. Losing her emotional composure in the school would not be a good thing. She closed her locker and made her way to the end of the hallway.

"Don't be so thrilled _just_ because Dylan asked you to watch him perform," a voice echoed from the other hallway. Betty did not need to guess who would emerge from the edge. Penelope made her appearance in front of Betty before she could even give a cross look. "As much as you'd like it to be, it's not a date."

"Since when do you care, Penelope? I thought you were over Dylan," Betty said, her eyelids lowering at the girl. A conversation with her was the last thing she wanted before leaving the school.

"I don't care. He's a loser anyway. Just.. don't make a big deal of it," Penelope argued, obviously losing words to say. She was the person who would take any chances at bringing her rivals down, even if her arguments made no sense. Betty could only pity her pointless attempt to demean her.

"My affairs are my own," Betty stated, "so I think it's best if you mind your own business."

"Ugh, whatever," Penelope said, obviously defeated but not showing it. "I have better things to do than talk to you." The conversation finally ended, and Betty claimed a victory once more.

As Penelope turned her back, Betty could do nothing but roll her eyes and smirk at the outcome of the argument. She believed in change, but Penelope was not learning at all. Betty had no interest in telling Penelope how to act in the first place, and she marched off in the opposite direction. The back door symbolized a breakthrough from the madness of education and snobby girls. She inhaled deeply, grasping as much of the clean air as her lungs could take, and began walking home.

After taking the first step outside, she already felt as if she had forgotten something. Betty looked to her side and remembered that Noah would usually walk with her once the school day ended. However, the phone call she had with him last night popped back into her head:

_"Sorry Betty, I won't be coming in tomorrow."_

_"What's the matter? Are you sick?"_

_"No, but in this case, I wish I was. Dental appointment."_

_"Oooh. Sorry about that. I'll see you the day after then."_

"The galaxy is safe today? That's a first," Betty thought out loud as she looked at her galactic wrist gear while strolling along the sidewalk of her neighborhood. It was a bit of a relief to have a break from saving planets, but this pause would increase the chance of trouble the next day. She could already hear X-5 emitting accurate statistics about this. Hopefully, it would not happen. She did not want to miss Dylan sing. Oh, no she did not.

Once she arrived home, she realized the large amount of spare time she had that night. A perfect opportunity to complete her homework and enjoy the rest of the night with her family.

After finishing her math homework, she spent a nice time with her parents watching a strange game show on television. Although she laughed with her family through the supposedly funny parts of the show, Betty was entirely thinking about tomorrow night. Okay, so it was not a date.. but just being invited by him felt so wonderful. He could have invited any other girl at school, but Dylan chose her. That is what made Betty's smile more vibrant than usual.

It was night time all too soon as Betty changed into her pajamas and climbed into her bed. Before closing her eyes, she looked at the stars in the sky, hoping that every single human, alien, or unidentified creature was safe.

"Good night," she said to the universe as she let her eyelids drop and dived deep into slumber.

She could not wait for tomorrow.

* * *

_I hope you like it so far. Again, please review, and you can find updates on upcoming chapters from this fic and my other ones on my profile!_


	2. Chapter 1 The Arrival

**A New Subordinate **

_Disclaimer: I do not own Atomic Betty or any of the characters from the cartoon series. The show is owned by Atomic Cartoons Inc._

Thank you to those who have reviewed my fic so far. I'm glad there are other Atomic Betty fans out there! Well, now that I'm going away from the prologue and into the chapters, you should prepare yourself for more description and length. I like making my chapters long because I tend to take long breaks in between writing. Heh.

Oh, and remember! If you're interested in how upcoming chapters for this fic are doing, check my profile! I update weekly with info like how many words for a particular chapter are completed and a 'predicted' date for it's release! Okay, onto the first chapter!

* * *

_Chapter 1 – The Arrival _

Betty woke up to an annoying alarm ring on the top of her dresser, but for the first time, she gave gratitude to the clock for awakening her. Today was going to be a day she would never forget. She quickly took a shower, put on her casual clothes, and raced down to get breakfast.

"Good morning, Betty dear," her mother said in somewhat of a sweet tune as the young girl entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, mom," Betty responded. She inhaled deeply through her nose to grasp every wonderful scent of soft pancakes and orange juice. She took the seat closest to her at the kitchen table. The first thing she noticed was the empty chair across the counter.

"Dad's at work now, right?" Betty said under her breath. After a long pause, she assumed her mother did not hear her due to the loud sound of the sizzling pan on the grill. Betty's father provided so much for the family, but it came with a personal cost. The disadvantage to this was the lack of time the girl was able to spend with him. Father-daughter activities were becoming more rare, to the point where Betty feared that he would have absolutely no time in his schedule for her. It was a harsh factor of reality that she had to deal with for most of her young life.

"Breakfast is ready now, Betty," her mother exclaimed as she turned on the oven fan to cool down the grill. "I tried to be a little creative today, so I added blueberries and bananas into the pancake mix!"

After hearing that, Betty began to feel a little skeptical on how fulfilling this meal would be. Her arms stiffened for a moment as the oddly-prepared breakfast was placed on a flower-painted plate and then onto the table. An uncomfortable gulp traveled through her throat while she managed to erase the slightly frightened look on her face and actually look at the meal. The pancakes did not fit the characteristics of normal pancakes: they were not circular.. they were not even flat. The breakfast consisted of fine pancake mix invaded by large lumps of banana slices and whole blueberries. The die from the berries had traveled through the mix in thin strips, making the food look like skin with visible veins and bumps. It was a horrible way to describe it, yet Betty knew from experience that looks were deceiving.

In a daring attempt, she grabbed her fork and knife and chopped through the thick slices. She brought the fork up to her mouth, observing the half slice of banana embedded in the mix before eating it. It was only then that she noticed, in the corner of her eye, that her mother was watching her eat, as if Betty were a professional food critic. She took no more interruptions, slipping the piece off the fork and into her mouth. Before she began to chew, she let the piece rest on her tongue, the blueberry juice spreading across the surface. She only took ten chews before swallowing.

"This is.. not too bad, mom!" she said. Was she lying? Hmm.. yes and no. It was definitely an exotic taste that she had never tried before. Strangely enough, she could not determine whether it was good or bad. Nevertheless, it was only natural that Betty wanted to keep her mother happy. Betty continued eating the pancakes while managing to keep a smile towards her mother.

"Really? That's wonderful, Betty! Your father said the same thing! Oh, I'm so excited!" Betty's parent squealed in delight as she began to clean up the mess in the kitchen. Betty was glad she was able to please her mother. Really.. the food was not _that_ bad...

Once she brushed her teeth, she grabbed all her work necessities and prepared to head off for school. The instant she opened the door, Noah was standing at the sidewalk in front of her house. He made a wave, not bothering to shout out anything. Betty did the same. After saying goodbye to her mother, she closed the door and met with the boy.

"So, how was the dental appointment?" Betty began as they strolled down the pathway.

"Doesh thish anshwer you qoestion?" Noah said, pointing at his cheek. It was only then that Betty recognized a lump from the back of his jaw.

"Oh my- you never told me you were going to the dentist to get your _wisdom_ teeth removed! How does it feel?" Betty shouted, concerned for her best friend. However, she did not need a response to know that Noah was in at least some sort of pain.

In a short time, they had reached the school, luckily before the annoying bell had rung. The two entered the building and headed off to their first destination: the lockers. While Noah was busy fiddling with his lock combination, hoping to gain access to the books he forgot to take home two days ago, Betty was just holding her own lock that was still attached to the locker. She placed one hand over the turner, but her eyes were not on the lock at all. In fact, they were wandering around the hallway, shifting from left to right, looking for.. yes.. Dylan.

It was only after Noah had closed his own locker, with three large books being held by his left hand, that he noticed Betty's odd glances across the area. Confused, he could not help but bring up the question. "Uh.. Betty? What aw you duing?"

If took a few seconds before Betty realized that Noah was questioning her search. "Oh, I'm looking for Dylan." She said, quickly returning to her initial activity.

Although he wanted to say something in return, Noah could not bring himself to it. It was normal.. to hear this. _Betty has an enormous crush on this guy_, he thought to himself._ I don't know how long it's been, but it has become very common to hear her mention his name at LEAST once every school day. This is normal now. I shouldn't be jealous. I should encourage her. Yeh, that's what I'll-_

"Thash nice. Why?" his support for her was presented by continuing the conversation about Dylan. What else could he do? He could not just confess his feelings towards her. They have been friends for so long. Never would he take such a risk. He would hide his pain from her until it killed him.

"He's taking me somewhere special!" Betty heard herself say. She was too preoccupied to even tell Noah the full details regarding the concert.

"Oh.. I she. Wew.. where ish he teking y-" before Noah could finish the sentence in his depressed tone, the school bell rang. Betty sighed once the noise ceased, but reassuring herself that she would most certainly see Dylan after school.

"Oh well. We better get to class now," Betty confirmed. Noah nodded and followed her to their classroom.

The class and lunch time were long in Betty's mind. She did her best to avoid staring at the clock, urging time to pass as quickly as possible until it reached 3pm. Once the minute hand reached its desired destination, she sprung from her desk and left the room.

This was to Noah's disappointment. Betty would usually wait for him as he gathered all his books so they could walk to their lockers. He did not want to give up, but considering how much homework he had to organize in his backpack, he decided not to run after her. Also, he was beginning to have a paranoia of the other students becoming suspicious of his actions being more than just out of friendship.

Betty spun across the corner towards her locker, hoping to bump into Dylan in a clichéd manner. However, she stopped when no one was there. If she did not find him, there was no chance of going. When hope slowly began to decrease, she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She dramatically turned around and found who she was looking for.

"Oh, Dylan!" she said happily.

"Hey, Betty. Good thing I found you. I need to give you this," Dylan said while presenting a blue piece of paper with what looked like a name and location typed on it. "It's the ticket to the concert."

"Oh, thank you!" Betty exclaimed as she took the ticket.

"And... I was also wondering. The concert shouldn't end later than 7:30pm, so.. could we, perhaps, work on some science homework together? We've got that test coming up and I'd love to have you as a study partner again."

During the week before their previous science test, Betty and Dylan worked hard together. They both adored the subject, so they undoubtedly had a great time studying their interest. Betty thrived on the chance to work with him again.

"Oh, of course. I'd really like that," Betty answered. No, it was still not a date, but at least she was able to have an opportunity to spend time with him after the concert.

"Glad to hear it. I'll see you at five then," Dylan concluded as he waved good bye and turned the other way. Betty looked at the ticket, smiled, and continued to walk to her locker.

"Hey, Betty!" a voice shouted from behind her. Noah was not far from her, so she waited until he caught up to her. By the end of school, his mouth was feeling a lot better. "Hey, why did you run off in such a-"

Before he could finish his question, he noticed the blue ticket in Betty's hands. In bold black letters was written, "The Music Stamina Concert at Mindallen Hall, with performances from fresh, young bands with a desire to share their work!" Noah saw Dylan talking to Betty before he turned around and left, so he automatically assumed that this paper was from him.

_Wait a sec... Dylan's in a band? I would've never guessed_.. Noah thought to himself. Although wanting to satisfy his curiousity, he decided not to ask questions and just, dreadfully, let things be the way they were. He quickly looked at the ticket again. There was a date and time scribbled on the bottom of the card, but by then he was not interested anymore.

_She probably didn't even notice that my jaw feels better..._

"I.. guess I'll see you tomorrow, Betty," Noah said and turned to leave the school. He decided not to go to his locker. All this happened before Betty could even protrude one word from her lips.

_Is Noah angry? Maybe he wanted to go to the concert too.._ she thought to herself, although she was not sure if that would be in Noah's true interest. Besides, she only had one ticket.

Noah was too far gone for Betty to catch up to him. Perhaps she would call him after the concert. That seemed to be the best solution that came to her mind. With that, she quickly went to her locker, took a few textbooks from it, and dragged her backpack home.

Despite the heaviness embedded on her shoulders, her excitement for tonight numbed the pain away.

She could not wait.

* * *

"Oh, this is too exciting!" Maximus said giddily. It would only be a matter of minutes before his new subordinate arrived at his lair. There were too many thoughts piling over each other in his mind, all linking to one objective: degrading Atomic Betty's identity and finishing her off once and for all. After so many failed attempts and lost opportunities to complete this desired task, he finally felt victory at the tips of his sharp fingers. Once the subordinate arrived, he would, without a doubt, have it completely in his hands to grasp. 

Meanwhile, Minimus tipped his head and placed it on the side of the large window. The hard glass was cold and uncomfortable, but he did not make any attempt to move. He sighed deeply as he stared into the depths of space, wondering what this new 'sidekick' would do to his reputation. Many thoughts were overlapping in his mind as well.

_Maybe I should be nice to her. She might be friendly. **Hah! I bet she'll take advantage of us.. then I can say 'I told you so!' in front of the boss' face. **If I talk to her, maybe we can find some understanding and work things out. **I bet you anything she's Atomic Betty in disguise. **Yes, that's what I'll do. Talk to her. Maybe we can find stability with our jobs. **Jeez, are you even listening to what I'm say- er.. thinking?** Right after the introductions, I'll have a nice chat with her. There's no need for nastiness. **Gah! It's just a darn sympathy complex with you, isn't it? I've had it! Go feed your ants or something..**_

Having two sides of himself was not easy, but Minimus managed to keep the discomfort tucked away from Maximus and, for that matter, everyone else. For most of the time, his eyes were out of focus, until a moving object caught his attention.

He quickly took his head off the glass by pushing his arms towards the hard surface. With his hands now touching the cold plane, he looked upwards. Hovering at approximately three hundred metres away was a small black spaceship, fit for only one passenger, which was the pilot. He squinted at the ship, trying his best to get a glimpse of the person inside, but was interrupted by Maximus violently pushing him aside and onto the floor. He let out a short, high-pitched squeak as he hit the ground.

"Fool! Why didn't you tell me she was coming? Ah, finally! The wait has ended!" Maximus shouted, keeping his eyes focused on the small craft.

Minimus got up and dusted himself off. His sycophant form could not care less of the abuse, considering he went through this kind of thing 24-7, yet his grumbler form was not so tolerant. "**I have half a mind to push YOU aside and see how YOU like it, your unscrupulousness!**"

Maximus effortlessly ignored his minion and watched the ship make its way down towards the side of the villain's craft. Within a few short minutes, some clicks and gear rotations signified the attachment of both ships. In just a moment, Maximus' new, additional subordinate would enter the room.

"Now, Minimus, don't say anything stupid to insult her. And don't interrupt her when she's talking. In fact, just don't speak at all," Maximus said, all the while maintaining his full attention to the sliding door which would open at any moment. Minimus watched the door too, but unable to show any emotion as of yet.

And then...

_Swoosh!_

A whirl of smoke escaped the opening, traveled through the floor of Maximus' lair, and disappeared. It seemed like such a clichéd entrance, but her appearance brought in a new style of introduction.

It was as if the entire room descended into shadows. A dark energy emerged from the door and presented herself into the room. However, it was actually a.. human. The tremendous feeling of night was caused by her short ebony hair which was unevenly cut, with a long batch of it stick out on front, covering her right eye. The first movement she made was to flick the hair away from her covered eye, but the effort failed as it dropped back in its original place. Her eyes were light green.

She was surprisingly short.. perhaps just a little bit taller than Atomic Betty and Minimus. One would expect that Maximus would chose a new subordinate of larger height to keep the balance between her and the other one. However, looks were, at times, deceiving. Maximus assumed this was the case.

Her suit was somewhat complex. It consisted of the colours brick red and black, yet they swerved and blended together like two snakes. Two long stripes, one red and one black, crossed each other at the belly button from the top of the shoulders to her knees. The rest of her suit flooded in the two colours. Her long gloves, the right one being black and the left being red, seemed intentionally tattered in many places across the hands. The one piece of clothing that did not hold any red or black texture was the brown belt that held very loose around her waist, but seemed to hang naturally. On the sides of it were large pouches that could have held some sort of small but deadly weapons.

The one thing that grabbed the most attention was the awing glow emerging from around the girl's neck. It blazed the colour of neon purple, as if it were her life force. It was thick and fit snuggly around the middle of her neck, making it seem like it was attached to her own body. Peculiar.. haunting.. and mesmerizing.. the glow seemed to shout out for attention.. or in anger.. it was hard to tell.

Once all the steam had escaped, the first word from the strange girl was ready to form from her mouth and awe the atmosphere of the entire universe and possible parallel universes.

"Hi!" the girl said unpredictably and cheerfully. The feeling had disappeared, and everything returned to exactly as it was before. "It's a pleasure to be here, Sir Maximus. No, I'm sorry, it's an _absolute honour_. I've been waiting for this day for quite some time."

She headed towards Maximus and let out her hand. Without effort, Maximus grabbed it with both of his hands and firmly shook it. "No no, the pleasure, and honour, is mine. I've certainly been waiting for you to arrive as well! Welcome! Please, make yourself comfortable during your stay!" He said while taking one hand away and spreading his arm to present the ship, as if it were a miraculous work of art. The first thing the girl noticed was Minimus. Maximus noticed where she had eye contact, and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Oh yes.. _that_ is my other assistant…... Minimus." As he said the lackey's name, Maximus took away his other hand.

The girl, wanting to be as polite as possible, walked towards Minimus. As she stood in front of him, one could tell that she was just a few centimetres taller than him.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Syn-D," she said courteously while bringing out her hand once more. Minimus did not waste another second as he brought out his hand to hold hers in a gentle handshake.

"And it's a pleasure to meet _you_ Syn-D. **I hate you!**" As his grumbler mode came into view, the handshake had turned into a violent grip that Syn-D could not break from. She struggled for a bit until Minimus finally let go and gave a devious smile. "**Hehehe**," he chuckled under his breath. That made him feel a lot better.

"Oh... really?" Syn-D responded with a fake giggle as she tended to her hand, exhaling soft breaths of pain. It was clear that their introduction did not go very well.

"You idiot!" Maximus yelled as he hit Minimus on the back of his head, causing it to spin around several times. "Are you _trying_ to make her feel uncomfortable? Whether you like it or not, she's going to stay here!"

He quickly drew his attention back to the girl. "My apologies. My assistant here has a slight personality problem. Eventually, you will get used to it like I have."

"Oh... I understand. Don't worry, I can take on anything you have here. It's the least I can do for all that you've carried out for me," Syn-D said with devotion as she placed a hand to the middle of her neck.

"**What are you talking about?**" Minimus asked loudly and rudely. Maximus finally had enough and kicked him all the way to the other side of the control room. His head hit the corner hard, causing him to moan in pain for the rest of the time. Syn-D's attention was fixed on Minimus' result of torture until Maximus spoke once more.

"Indeed," he continued. "I will call Spurdly Tim Kanishi immediately to notify him that you've arrived safely."

"Thank you, sir," Syn-D replied with a smile. She could not wait to get to work here. After many years of hard work and struggle, she managed to pull through with all her strength and still remain independent enough to begin a full-time villain job.

Without hesitation, Maximus made the call. He turned the phone on speaker mode so he would not have to speak into a small receiver. To avoid repetition, he put the number of the school on auto-dial. After two short rings, a woman's voice spoke. "May I help you?" she said without introduction.

"Yes, this is Maximus. I'd like to speak with Spurdly Tim Kanishi, please. His student has just arrived at my station," Maximus spoke boldly.

"Oh, hold please," she said. Instead of waiting music being played, the two could still hear her breathing, plus a few pressing of buttons.

"Please repeat your name into the receiver," the woman said, her voice slightly faded as she seemed to be working out some controls in the background.

"Er... Maximus," he said as he leaned forwards, his lips almost touching the speaker. He stood back up and waited for an answer.

Then, a computerized-voice was heard in the background. The words were a bit weak, but it sounded more or less like 'Voice Activation Complete'. Maximus had forgotten about the tight security at the dark school's base. He had to go through countless steps just for their phone number, one being a voice scan.

After a short struggle with the phone, the woman was back on the air. "Thank you for your patience. I will direct you to Kanishi-sensei in one moment." And with that, the strange telephone music initiated.

During the wait, Maximus ceased the perfect opportunity to continue a friendly conversation with his new assistant. "So.. Miss Syn-D.. do you enjoy exploding planets?"

Syn-D was startled, not because of the oddity of his question, but because of her unawareness. She had absolutely no experience of celestial body domination or even annihilation! There was much more to Maximus than she new, and at that moment, her astonishment turned into a feeling of being unprepared. Syn-D understood that she must do whatever her boss commands, even if it was global destruction. _Come on Syn-D_, she said to herself. _You've been **trained** to do things like this! You're excited to do this work, aren't you?_

"Well, I-" Syn-D was ready to give Maximus a response along the lines of 'no, but if you want it, I'll do it!' but was interrupted when the phone music stopped and an odd crumpling noise could be heard over the speaker. It was long and unrecognizable. Maximus was ready to speak over it, when someone finally talked over the other line.

"Activate High Security Video Transmission," a dark yet calm voice said on the speaker. Syn-D smiled. It was great to hear his voice again. Her happiness beamed even more as the video screen for the phone popped up from the control desk and turned on. There was a lot of static, mainly due to the long distance between Syn-D's school and Maximus' base, but a blurry image could be seen. It was undoubtedly the highly respected Spurdly Tim Kanishi.

"Maximus-san," Kanishi began. "I assume this call is to notify me of my student's safe journey to your base." His old age was defined not by appearance, but by the slight discomfort in his throat as he spoke. Nevertheless, he addressed his words in a way that caught the attention of even a small flea. If you knew Spindly Tam Kanushu, you would understand more why Kanishi was also _evil_ rather than just his _half cousin_. His figure did somewhat resemble that of Atomic Betty's teacher, yet, his skin was in the colour of black. The texture of his clothing could only be recognized by squinting through the several blocks of static on the screen. It was a crimson red coat with black and white stitching across his shoulders. Each complicated design symbolized a field of dark martial arts that he had mastered and taught. He was by far the most powerful and recommended instructor that anyone with evil intentions had seen. No one ever knew if the two half-cousins ever met in person.

"A pleasure to speak with you, Master Kanishi. Indeed, she has arrived without harm. I must thank you once more for the reference letter. Syn-D's qualifications are more than I expected." As Maximus spoke with Kanishi, Syn-D began to blush at the new boss' positive comments about her.. and he did not even seen her in action yet! There was still so much that she could prove to him, and she would not let him down. All the while, Kanishi did not seem to buy Maximus' kind tone. He knew exactly what his intentions were, from the instant Syn-D stepped into his school.

"I am not surprised. If you do not mind, I would like to speak with Syn-D for a moment," Kanishi quickly added during his turn in the conversation.

"Oh, not at all," Maximus allowed. He moved aside and motioned his hand in front of him to allow Syn-D to step forward and speak to her former master.

"Kanishi-sensei..." Syn-D began at an emotional level, but could not continue. The last conversation they had face-to-face was not sympathetic or heart-filled; it was blunt and serious, just like the atmosphere of the dark arts temple. Nevertheless, she had developed strong feelings for her teacher. Without him, she would truly not be who she was today.

"Syn-D-chan, yaru kara ni wa ii shigoto o shinasai. Watashi wa mata anata ni aitai to omoimasu," Kanishi said subtlety, only wanting Syn-D to hear the words. This was the first time he ever expressed himself in a somewhat emotional way, and Syn-D was glad to hear it.

"Hai. Osewa ni narimashita," Syn-D returned the respect with a show of great gratitude. She knew that that was all he was going to say, so she bowed towards the screen, closed her eyes, and stepped back to make way for Maximus. He took the hint and returned to his conversation with the teacher. Before Maximus could say anything, Kanishi spoke once more.

"It was more than obvious, if that is even possible, that you would chose her after the.. 'generous contribution'. It has helped her tremendously.. and brought ease to the school. Therefore, you have _absolutely_ no need to perjure yourself in my presence." His statement was very direct and surprising. Syn-D overheard this and was shocked, not because of Maximus' somewhat obvious intentions, but because Kanishi actually mentioned this. She felt as if she was put in an uncomfortable position, as she fiddled with the brace around her neck.

"Oh, it was just something in the making anyway. But I'm glad it was useful. You have my word when I say it was a mere coincidence," Maximus tried to reassure him, although there was no need to. Kanishi knew too well what his plan was, and he did whatever he could to make sure Syn-D knew as well, which he succeeded in doing so. Above all things, he did not want her to feel used because of her barrier. It definitely made her life a lot easier, but she did not deserve to think she had to depend on that one little thing that surrounded her neckline.

I was not just Kanishi who helped her. Truly, if it were not for Maximus, Syn-D would not be where she was.

"I shall end this conversation now," Kanishi said once again in a blunt tone. "Syn-D will not disappoint you. Good evening." With that, the screen turned static and descended back into the control desk. There was absolutely no way the location of where Kanishi was talking from could be tracked. High security indeed.

Maximus found Spurdly Tim's abruptness quite rude, but decided to brush it off. "Well," he said, turning towards Syn-D, "I hope you don't mind if we get to work now."

Her head slightly turned to the right as she overheard Minimus moans again. Her focus returned to Maximus within a second. "Not a problem."

"Then let's get to the point," Maximus commenced. He reached for the third blue button closest to him on the control panel which caused a large screen to enter from above. In an instant, the screen presented a map of a solar system. There was at least twenty planets in this system, but Syn-D did not want to distract herself by accurately counting. Maximus pressed a button on the corner of the screen which automatically made it zoom in to a particular planet. With one extremely thin ring around it and a slightly gray and orange colour, it proved to be a planet that she had never seen before.

"The planet's name is Armvarn," Maximus lectured. "It's not known for much really. They're ranked in the top ten most peaceful planets in the universe. Their people are passive, kind, and can be easily manipulated. I need the perfect planet to bring my arch nemesis to the scene."

The screen went blank for a moment, and then several pictures of the person Maximus was referring to had shown. "Her name is Atomic Betty. She is by far the most threatening blockade to my missions, to the point that my aim is to find her home planet, expose her identity to the people, and have her humiliated beyond belief and deal with a feeling worse than death. That or just destroy her. Whichever is more convenient at that time."

"Death is a feeling?" Syn-D found herself say. Maximus turned to her, giving a raised eyebrow and a look of unimpressive ness.

Syn-D made a fake cough as she tried to come up with words to cover up her juvenile behavior. "Ah.. ahem.. well, I've heard of Atomic Betty before. In fact, Kanishi-sensei had warned me that if I were to work in deep space business, I'd eventually meet her." She momentarily pondered on her former teacher's words, which always had a meaning, but was hidden in a way that needed to be broken down.

"Well, he was right about that. In roughly thirty minutes, we'll be paying a visit to the planet, raiding their territory and causing havoc that will surely bring Atomic Betty to the 'rescue'. Once she has come, I'm leaving everything to you. I want to see why I hired you in the first place."

Syn-D pretty much got what he had ordered, and she enthusiastically accepted. "Yes, Sir," she said with one swift hand to her head. "I'll be sure to take care of her."

"Excellent. Minimus!" Maximus shouted over Syn-D's shoulder and the slumped assistant. "Set a direct course to Armvarn! We haven't got a minute to lose!"

"**You don't have to ask twice, your maliciousness,**" Minimus said as he got up and headed for the controls. Maximus stood there, his eyebrow raised once more at his lackey's remark.

"Since when did I ask twice?" Maximus sharply questioned, although quickly wishing he could withdraw the pointless argument.

Minimus sighed and mumbled something that consisted of the words 'figure' and 'speech'. With the tap of a few buttons and levers, the base had swerved into the direction of the gray/orange planet. During the journey, Maximus contained his excitement.

_This time.. for certain.. she will perish._

* * *

After spending hours finishing her homework and finding the right clothes for the performance, Betty was ready for tonight. The outfit she prepared after digging up and down in her closet resulted in something not too casual but not too formal. She decided to wear a long red skirt that her mother gave her during the usual shopping sprees. She also bought Betty a beige blouse with a stylish stitch on the front. Today, it made a great addition to the rest of her outfit. 

For the first time in a long while, Betty decided to let her hair down. She wanted to save it for graduation, but it was not like all of her school friends were going to see her at the concert anyway. She wanted to look the best she could for tonight.

After quadruple checking that everything was in order, Betty ran downstairs and headed for the door.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride, honey?" Betty's mother shouted before she could even turn the doorknob.

"No, it's alright. It's not that far away, I'm fine walking."

"Okay then, but call me once it's over. I want to be sure you're alright."

Betty smiled with her back facing her mother. "Thanks mom, I will." And with that, she exited the house and made her way towards Mindallen Hall.

Mindallen Hall was not a popular concert hall. It only had two washrooms, two vending machines, and the main room which stored no more than one hundred and fifty seats. Nonetheless, many successful performances were held at the place.

Once she had made it to the entrance of the building, Betty desperately looked around to see who was entering the place. It was mainly students from different schools that she assumed she never heard of. There were even ones who were in high school. There was a rare amount of adults, which did not surprise her.

She opened the doors and made her way through the foyer. There was a bunch of people in line waiting for the main doors of the hall to open. Betty made an effort to stand on her toes to see if Dylan was outside of the room at all. When she could not find him, she made her way towards the end of the line. Just then, she heard a voice behind her that was recognizable. She turned around to see the boy talking to four other students who Betty supposed were the other members of his band. She inhaled deeply and began to march towards him.

And then, the unwanted occurred. Betty's eyes widened in disbelief as she heard her galactic wrist gear beep behind her back. She felt as if she was caught in an act that did not require a punishment.

"I don't.. believe this," she muttered as the people around her began to notice the noise coming from her wrist. Her first intention was to completely ignore the message and just continue to stay in line. Perhaps the beeping would cease in a minute or so. It was after half a minute that she realized who she was, Atomic Betty. She had been through situations like this before, having to leave at the worst possible time. She was beginning to suspect that evil forces were doing this to her on purpose. She closed her eyes, took a long breath inwards, and dove into the nearest restroom.

To her luck, the only woman in the washroom had just left. She had the place all to herself to deal with the situation.

"Atomic Betty, reporting for duty.. as usual.." Betty could not help but mutter the last part of her sentence.

Because it took a lengthy amount of time for Betty to respond, Admiral DeGill had his back turned and stood staring into space from his large window. Once he heard Betty's call, he took his pipe out of his mouth, but not before taking one last exhale and exposing a small bubble from the top. He turned around and went straight to business.

"Atomic Betty, thank goodness," DeGill began. "One of our most peaceful planets, Armvarn of the Quinrigo Solar System, has been invaded by Maximus. As of yet, his intentions are not quite clear. We need your help to investigate his intended goal and stop him from achieving them."

"Wait a minute," Betty interrupted. "What good is a peaceful planet to Maximus? Do they have any significant resources?"

"No, they do not," DeGill responded bluntly. "They don't believe in weaponry, fuel, or anything that could damage the fragile environment. That's why it's your job to find out of what use this planet is to Maximus."

Betty sighed. There was no way she could get out of this. "Alright, I'm on my way." She turned the signal off and sensed the ship with Sparky and X-5 hovering right above Mindallen Hall. She closed her eyes and surrendered herself to the beam that shot from the ceiling and encircled her body.

Nevertheless, she was a galactic guardian. Although she suffered through many hard missions, she managed to return at a good, or to the least, acceptable, time. Despite the fact that her main goal was to stop Maximus (again), she made sure that her other objective was to return in time for the concert. She would not let Dylan down after what she said. Absolutely not.

"I'm sorry Dylan, but I swear I'll be back in time."

* * *

_Hope you liked the chapter! Please review, and check my profile for updates on the next chapter!_


	3. Chapter 2 The Fight

**A New Subordinate **

_Disclaimer: I do not own Atomic Betty or any of the characters from the cartoon series. The show is owned by Atomic Cartoons Inc._

I'm really sorry for the delay of Chapter 2. My summer was like half a lifetime crammed into two months and I just started university, but I love writing my fan fiction so I'm doing my best to make time for it. It's hard to have the TV from the dorm lounge to myself at the right time to watch Atomic Betty, but I'm working on that. Hehe. Anyways, here's the next chapter. I hope it won't take me this long to make Chapter 3. /

_Chapter 2 – The Fight_

* * *

Within a few seconds, Betty had escaped the concert hall and entered the interior of the spaceship, in her correct place, her eyes first seeing Sparky and X-5. The rocket blasted off into space with great force. There was an awkward minute or two of silence, but Sparky was the first to shift his head to welcome her once again. By the time his eyes met hers, Betty had taken a pink band from around her wrist and almost finished tying her hair up in the usual ponytail. 

"Ooooh, was that a new hair due? Come on, don't be shy!" Sparky said, giggling.

"No time for that, Sparky," Betty responded as she placed her arms over the sides of the chair. "Where are we, X-5?"

X-5 wasted no time in telling her the coordinates. "We are about 10000 km from the Quinrigo Solar System, and from there, it'll take another 4000 km to arrive at Armvarn."

"Full speed ahead, then," Betty quickly announced. Knowing the spaceship almost from top to bottom, she was not too worried about distance. At full speed, it would probably take them fifteen to twenty minutes to complete an 8000 km drive. Betty remained optimistic. She knew that she would return to Earth in time to see Dylan perform.

* * *

"So, what's the news in Armvarn today?" an Armvarn civilian named Bob asked. 

"Nothing really," said Phil, who answered delightfully.

"That's wonderful!" Bob remarked, and they both smiled and looked at the sky. Unfortunately, the peace would be interrupted by a strange glowing ring dropping to the surface.

The ring was bright red, and within one second of seeing it, the ring plummeted onto Bob and trapped him tightly around the waist, along with his arms.

"What's that, Bob?" Phil asked.

"You know what? I'm not really sure," Bob responded, not making much of an effort to free himself. Soon after, another ring fell from the sky and encircled Phil. Before he knew it, the ring had tightened around him and he was powerless to stop it.

"Oh, now there's one around me," Phil said, curiously observing the hoop. The two looked at each other, and then at the sky again. A hover noise echoed through the air which called upon a thousand glowing rings at the same time, sprouting from one destination, but it was too far into outer space for the civilians to find.

The source was Maximus.

His ship was orbiting the peaceful planet of Armvarn, while exiting the bottom were the glowing rings, a new invention of his. Knowing the personality of every Armvarn civilian, there was no doubt that his criminal plan would work.

"Ah, excellent!" Maximus exclaimed. "In just a few minutes, the entire Armvarn population will be trapped by me! And then Atomic _Pesky_ will come riding along in her spaceship, eager to save the day, but oooh.. is she up for a _surprise_!"

Syn-D knew he was referring to her when he emphasized the word 'surprise', but she did not look at him. She kept her eyes on the planet as a dozen rings left the ship every second or two. Finally, she spoke. "I'm looking forward to getting rid of this girl." However, she said this too quietly for Maximus to catch. Therefore, he continued his monologue.

"This is the last time she'll attempt to foil my plans... I can feel it. No longer will people point and laugh at me, saying 'Oh look! There goes Maximus, the guy who was always stopped by a little girl from a planet he doesn't even know!'" Maximus used different voices and hand actions to make his point clear.

"You don't know her home planet?" Syn-D said as her head swiftly turned around after Maximus' act. Her eyes widened a bit, not quite sure if that was what he said. Did he mention this before? She could not remember.

"We've been trying to find Atomic Betty's planet for over two years now," Minimus walked in after leaving the control room which held the glowing rings. His departure from that room signified that task one was complete. "We were close many times, but ended up failing every single-"

"That's enough, Minimus!" Maximus exclaimed as he jabbed his foot into Minimus' right cheek.

_He doesn't know where she's from... _Syn-D took this time to ponder on this fact. She was definitely not from Betty's planet, but since the galactic girl's species looked strikingly identical to hers, perhaps there was some way she could trick Betty into finding out for Maximus. With that thought crossing her mind, Syn-D also started to think on how to infiltrate Atomic Betty's defense in order to bring her down swiftly.

"I think that's the last of the rings. Is there any sign of her yet?" Maximus peeked over to watch the last glowing circle drop towards Armvarn. He then eyed Minimus to find an answer out of him. Minimus took the hint and dove towards the navigation system.

"**Atomic Betty's on her way right now. She just entered the Quinrigo Solar System**," Minimus said in his grumbler mode. At this point, Syn-D took a small step away from the minion.

"That means she'll be here in a matter of minutes! It's time to bring 'Phase Two' of my plan into action! Full speed towards the planet, Minimus!" Maximus shouted as he pointed one finger at Armvarn. "Try to find an area where she can't find us."

"**Yes, your sliminess!**" Minimus swerved the spacecraft around and made a nose dive towards the easily conquered planet.

Once they reached the surface of Armvarn, it could be easily seen that the planet was under Maximus' control. Every civilian was trapped by a glowing ring that he had sent. Whether they were outside or in their homes, the rings were designed to take all inhabitants without weighting any restrictions. At this point, Maximus wondered why he overlooked such a planet in the first place. It would make excellent target practice, and it seemed like he would hardly get in trouble for it. 'Hardly' was put into the case because of the bothersome Atomic Betty.

Maximus' ship flew towards a canyon that made a perfect hiding place to wait for Atomic Betty to arrive. The outskirts of the canyon were extremely rocky, which is why no civilian dared to live near the canyon.

"**There! I see her coming!**" Minimus shouted, noticing the red spaceship from the sky.

"Excellent," Maximus said, turning over to Syn-D. "You know what to do."

Syn-D nodded answered and left the room.

* * *

"Any sign of Maximus' ship?" Betty asked Sparky and X-5. 

"Nothing appears on the scanners," X-5 said first. "He could be hiding. I advise entering Armvarn's atmosphere with extreme caution."

The ship slowly descended towards the surface of the planet. They landed in a populated area, where all they could see were people walking around with red rings around their waists. Some of them fell onto the ground, but did not seem to care.

"What is going on here?" Betty said in a confused tone.

"Maximus has a new toy.. a really weird one to be exact," Sparky noted.

"The 'weirdness' of the object seems to be enhanced by the behavior of the people," X-5 began to explain. "But that appears to be normal here. Armvarn has a very peaceful and adaptable population. I don't think they understand that they are being conquered by Maximus."

"Hmm.. better check it out then," Betty said. The three got out of the ship and looked at the condition of the people. None of them looked injured or uncomfortable at all. It was as if they got used to the rings that entrapped their bodies.

Atomic Betty was able to stop one woman whose arms were trapped with the ring around her waist. "Excuse me, are you alright?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm doing great as usual," the woman answered. "I wasn't going to use my hands today anyway. I'm going to a woman's soccer tournament. Bye!" Before Betty could respond, she walked on without another word out of her mouth.

"What is _with_ these people?" Betty had to say. She had never seen a planet act like this. She almost convinced herself that the rings were mingling with their minds.

"Like I said, captain," X-5 said, "it's part of their nature."

"But where's Maximus?" Sparky said. "If he put those ring traps around all these people, wouldn't he start.. taking them away.. or something?"

"Maybe he's taking his time, since the civilians to not look reluctant to do anything about it," X-5 responded.

"We have to find him," Betty announced. She walked around the area to find another person. With luck, she found two boys sitting on the curve of a road. They appeared to be fascinated by a broken can on the street.

"Um, excuse me," she said. It took the boys a few seconds for them to break their concentration on the can and look at Betty. She clearly saw that they had red rings around them as well. "Did you two see anything strange in the sky lately? Like, a spaceship?"

The two boys looked at each other and smiled. "Yes, I saw one," one of the boys said.

"I saw one too," the second boy said. The first boy continued. "It was red and white, and three people came out of it.. one looked like a robot.. one looked like it had green skin and blue hair or something.. and one had the biggest red hair I've ever seen."

Betty lowered her eyes, but decided not to get angry. "Okay, that was my ship."

"What are you talking about, Ben? That's not the ship I saw," the second boy interrupted. "The one I saw looked like a dark ship that came down right after all those rings came from the sky and went around us."

"Oh yeaaaah," Ben responded.

"Yeh, and after all the rings came out, it went into the Rhynin Canyon way down over there." Since the boy couldn't use his hands, he pointed with his nose. Betty looked behind her and noticed the rocky surface from a distance. It was quite far from the populated area.

"That must be where Maximus' ship is," she said out loud.

"Yeh," said Ben. "And the red ship is just a few metres from here.. juuust over there." The boy also used his nose to point.

"Uh.. yeh.. I know.. that's my ship," Betty said.

"Ooooh, cool!" the boys said together.

She rolled her eyes and walked off. The people of Armvarn did not seem very appealing. She almost could not wait to get off the planet.

"I know where Maximus' ship is!" Betty shouted as she went towards Sparky and X-5. She pointed to the uninhabited area a few kilometers down. "It's called the Rhynin Canyon. Maximus could be setting up something there. We better hurry."

With that said, the three dove back into the ship and made there way to the canyon.

* * *

There were many large ridges surrounding the canyon which would make it impossible for a normal person to climb over. That is why the area was strictly forbidden.. not that there were any rules on Armvarn. It just seemed logical. But since when did Maximus follow logicality? The ship stayed hidden while Syn-D used a special teleportation gizmo she had earned from her special Dark Martial Arts school. She was trained only to use it for extreme measures during battle; transporting around the enemy made one look very stupid. 

Reappearing near the edge of the dangerous area, where the surface became flat and easier to walk on, Syn-D leaned behind a tall rock that stuck up from the ground and waited. After countless minutes, she closed her eyes and sighed. Spurdly Tim Kanishi taught her how to remain patient when waiting for an opponent, but she began to overlook those lessons. "What if she doesn't come?" she said aloud, knowing that it was a possibility.

Suddenly, a hovering noise caught her attention. Syn-D moved to the side of the rock and lifted her head as she saw a red and white spaceship coming her way. "That must be the ship," Syn-D gasped. She put her entire body behind the rock once again to avoid being seen. At this time, she did not mind the wait as the ship descended about half a kilometer from where she was. "Hmm.. I wonder what kind of welcome I should give Atomic Betty.."

* * *

"The canyon's right there," Betty said as she pointed to the vast hole a few kilometers ahead. 

"Gee, it looks really rocky down there," Sparky added as he observed the dangerous landscape. "Should we really risk it?"

Atomic Betty pondered for a moment and thought about the safety of the team. "Well.. maybe if we land a little bit before the rocks, we can start investigating.. to see if there are any traps. It's also easier for Maximus to find us and attack if we're in the air while he's in the canyon where we can't see him."

"That's right," X-5 joined in the conversation. "We can give him the element of surprise by flying over the rocks and attacking at different positions."

With the decision made, they landed the ship on a soft, sandy plane and carefully left the craft. As Betty stepped out, she looked at every possible direction. No sign of anything peculiar. "Let's start heading forwards, then," she said.

With every bit of caution, the crew walked towards the dangerous surface. From their point of view, it looked like the rocks were needles sticking out of the ground. It was definitely not safe to walk over, and they would eventually have to use their rocket jets to fly over the place.

_They're coming closer Syn-D... _the girl said to herself. She did not look to the side of the rock, as she could already hear the sound of their footsteps. Instead, she stared forwards at the pile of rocks in front of her. _Just breathe... and get ready..._

"Something doesn't seem right here," Betty noticed as the crew continued to walk. "If Maximus set a trap on the Armvarn civilians, then why is he hiding in a c-"

Suddenly, a flash of dust flew into Atomic Betty's eyes. The mist followed with the ground trembling under her feet. It was cracking beneath her! She rubbed her eyes as she looked for X-5 and Sparky. They were near; she could hear Sparky crying for something to get the sand out of his eyes.

"Keep your eyes open, guys!" Betty shouted. "Somebody's near us!"

The dust was thick, but as Atomic Betty looked up, she could see a silhouette standing on top of a tall, rigid piece of rock. Could it be Maximus? As the mist slowly became thin, she realized it was definitely not him.

"Hi!" Syn-D said with a grin, the wind causing her ebony hair to brush against her entire face. Betty could not get a good glimpse of the person until the breeze completely settled down. Maximus' new subordinate stood in such an angle that made Atomic Betty look inferior and small. But before she could even think about defending herself, Syn-D swooped from the jagged boulder and dove towards the girl. Through what seemed to be a timeless moment, Betty felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder as she tried to dodge the attack. The attempt was a failure as she hit the ground with a large thud.

"Oh, and the name's Syn-D. I work for Maximus," she said as she got up from her crouched position after attacking. There was a long pause as Atomic Betty could do nothing but stare in awe at the girl. Once again, she was at a lower level to this new opponent, her being on the ground and the girl standing over her. Syn-D was looking for some kind of response, but after no hint, she gave out a quiet 'heh' as the front bang that covered her right eye flew slightly upwards and back down. She made her way towards the fallen hero with a ready fist.

Realizing her situation, Atomic Betty managed to bring both her arms in a crossed position in front of her in order to dodge the punch. The two girls were face to face; Syn-D tried her best to penetrate Betty's defenses but she was holding on for as long as she possibly could. For some reason, Betty did not want to fight her. She wanted answers first. Was she from Earth? If so, what was she doing away from it? Why was she working for Maximus?

When Syn-D backed away, she took the opportunity. "A-are you from E-," when Betty realized what she was saying, she put both hands to her mouth. She was _this_ close to saying her home planet when Maximus was surely around the area! What was she thinking?

"Uh.. yes.. I am from that.. planet.. that you were about to say. Uh, you were saying?" Syn-D said, trying eagerly to get the truth out of Betty, but quickly lost confidence. She was not a good actress, and there was hardly a way to trick the girl into her favour.

From what Syn-D said, Betty finally understood that she was not from Earth. Now, her impression of the new girl was that she was another helper of Maximus, sent in order to find out her home planet. "No, I won't allow it," she spoke. "I won't allow you to find my planet. Tell Maximus that he'll have to give up."

"I'd love to give him your message, but I'm a bit preoccupied right now," Syn-D hissed as she jumped from one rock to another. "I'm not just some lackey whose purpose is to serenely try and mislead the hero into telling her secret hideout. I'm here to kill you on the first try!"

Syn-D made no second thoughts as took another attempt to bring Atomic Betty down.

* * *

"Hmm, I think taking your friends away from your side would make things more interesting, Atomic Betty!" Maximus shouted from inside his base as he watched the fight. The rocket slowly left the canyon and zoomed towards the line that separated the rocks from the flat planes, where Atomic Betty, Sparky and X-5 were. At this point, Betty could clearly see the dark craft in the sky. Although Maximus did not make any notion of exiting, she could tell that a problem was about to arise; the rocket was hovering right above Sparky and X-5! 

"Sparky! X-5! Look out!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. They were a far distance apart, but she was confident that they would hear her.

"Huh?" Sparky said, looking from side to side. "Look out for what?"

"I think Betty is referring to Maximus' base floating right over us!" X-5 exclaimed as he pointed upwards. When Sparky realized this, he jumped in surprise. The rocket was coming closer and closer, almost covering the entire sky from Sparky and X-5's point of view.

"Well, if Maximus thinks he's got us in the bag, he'll have to think twice.. that is.. if he has enough time for that!" That being said, Sparky turned on his rocket boosters and dove towards the base.

He did not even hear X-5's shouts of concern as he reached behind his back to take out his latest weapon, a laser gun with more accuracy and fire power than his original items. He knew that this was the perfect time to use it.

It did not seem odd to Sparky that Maximus' ship was not attacking, or perhaps he did not bother to notice it. He stopped flying upward when he was just a few metres from the bottom of the ship. "This outta leave a pretty mark," Sparky said as he targeted the ship with his gun.

Meanwhile, all Betty could do was watch since Syn-D was blocking her path to get to the others. Syn-D momentarily dropped her attention on the girl and turned her head half-way to see the action behind her. She kept one hand on her hip, as if not looking the slightest bit amused.

"What does he think he's doing?" Syn-D said monotonously. She decided not to bother anymore and looked back at Betty. "No matter.. it's not in his favour anyway."

Betty gasped; she was right. A small tile from the side of the ship opened, allowing a robotic arm to fall from within. Attached to the arm was a hand with long, spider-like fingers.

"Sparky! X-5!" Betty shouted once again.

"Huh?" Sparky said, hearing his captain's call. When he turned back around, he could see the arm darting straight towards him. In a swift move, he managed to overcome the first attack. But there was no time to relax as the arm did not give up. It kept chasing him, and all Sparky could do was fly away.

"Hold still, Sparky! I'm going to try and annihilate it!" X-5 said as he tried to target the flying arm. However, this proved difficult since it kept moving around, trying to capture Sparky.

"You _really_ think I'm gonna slow down? This thing's gonna kill me!" Sparky shouted in terror.

_She's... strong..._ Betty thought to herself. She never faced anyone like her. She wished that Sparky and X-5 were with her.. helping her. But if anything, they needed _her_ help.

"Okay, enough watching your friends die.." Syn-D said as she darted towards Betty once more. Betty realized that she was near a large pile of sharp rocks, so she quickly made her way behind them.

Syn-D's punch missed and hit the rock that Betty was hiding behind. Piles of rock debris flew into the air and no sight of a damaged Atomic Betty was found. Syn-D moved her head upwards, looking past all the flying rock to find the girl, but her eyes were not fast enough. Betty had already positioned herself in the air to attack, and with one extended foot, she kicked Syn-D in the face as hard as she could. Syn-D was not quick enough to dodge and received the full impact, letting out a loud cry shortly afterwards.

* * *

"**It appears that the new girl can't beat Atomic Betty**," Minimus said, letting out a quiet but wicked snicker. Maximus completely ignored him, but knew very well of Syn-D's position as he looked at the large video set up in front of him, provided by the video cameras he released when Atomic Betty first landed on Armvarn. He knew that Syn-D was definitely not like any other opponent against Betty, but he had much higher expectations; he hoped that she would take the galactic girl out with just a few blows. This was not happening. 

"I can't believe this. Spurdly Tim Kanishi assured me that Syn-D would get the job done. Look, she had her down long enough to finish her off!" he said, getting slightly irritated.

"**I told you she was a waste of time and money**," Minimus added.

"Shut up, Minimus!" Maximus yelled. "Are Atomic Betty's companions causing any trouble?"

Minimus mumbled as he pressed a button to make a small video pop up, giving a visual on what was happening under the ship. "No, your clamminess. They're occupied by the robotic arm from the ship. But what's the purpose of it anyway? They're just going to run away from it."

"It's a last resort.. in case things don't work out as planned," Maximus muttered. "You'll see..."

* * *

The subordinate fell to the ground, her fists hitting first so her head would be spared. Betty turned around to see how effective her attack was. She assumed that Syn-D would be worried about her face, but instead she brought one hand from the ground and clenched it over the neon purple necklace that she wore. Her fingers shivered as they touched the bound around her neck, and from what Betty could see, it looked like there was fear in her eyes. Her fingers then made a grip on the brace around her neck.. holding on as if her life depended on it. 

But the fear disappeared in one blink. Syn-D managed to get up with her back towards Atomic Betty. She let out a cough which could have been taken as a laugh. "You.. you stupid girl," she hissed. She turned her head around to look at Betty. Her eyes glowed with anger. "You think I'll let you win? Just like that?" Syn-D almost lost her balance as she spoke. She knew herself that she was not in a good position to continue fighting. As she breathed in and out quickly, she thought about Maximus' disappointment in her. She really wanted to win, but it could not be done.. not this time, at least. Perhaps Maximus would understand and give her another chance. Perhaps...

Syn-D slowly backed away and brought her head down. Betty watched her, and took this as a sign of defeat. And then...

"No," Syn-D whispered. She ran towards Atomic Betty, almost taking her by surprise. Both of their hands clasped each others as they tried to push one another over. The struggle was overbearing on each side, but Betty would not give up. Suddenly, she heard Sparky shout from behind her. "Sparky?" she said, turning her head slightly.

"It's too bad I can't do this to you now, Atomic Betty.." Syn-D struggled to say as she finally managed to use all the power in her arms to throw the distracted Betty to the ground. This caused herself to slightly lose her balance, but she remained in control. "But, as my teacher once said, 'If the body of the enemy cannot be defeated, its emotions are the next target'..". Syn-D managed to smile as she looked up at what was happening to Sparky.

Without warning, the hand from the robotic arm clenched together and formed a large ball of attracting energy. It opened again, targeting the energy on Sparky. He realized that flying away was becoming a difficulty as the energy was shooting from the hand and grabbing his arms and legs. X-5 tried to shoot the arm, but the strange energy was protecting it. Before they knew it, the energy brought Sparky into the hand, impossible for him to escape.

"Noo! Sparky!" Betty shouted at the top of her lungs as she attempted to lift herself from the ground. But before she had a chance to try, a sharp pain ignited on her lower right leg. She screamed as the sting worsened.. the weight on the leg getting heavier and heavier. She looked down at her leg and saw that a boulder slightly larger than the size of her head had been thrown onto it. Despite the pain, she took her eyes off it and looked at Syn-D, who had her arms thrown in front of her. She brought them back to her sides and focused on the thrown boulder.

"That'll do for now," Syn-D exclaimed, spitting to the side of her. As she wiped her mouth, she looked at Betty in disgust. "If you want to see your friend again, look for me." With that said she took a small remote from her pocket, pressed a button, and instantly vanished.

"NO!" Betty screamed once again as she tried to reach for the girl, but she was gone. It was painful, but for the next minute, she tried to take the boulder off her leg. Every move she made was agonizing, but she knew she had no time. They had gotten Sparky and she had to get him back.

Her concentration was disrupted as the ground began to vibrate beneath her, but not enough to take the boulder out of its place; it was too heavy. She then realized that the rumbling was due to Maximus' spaceship powering up. The arm, with Sparky, retracted into the spaceship and the craft ignited its engines to blast off at a tremendous force. The power was so immense that she could see the ground heating up from beneath the craft. Now this made her wonder of X-5's safety.

To Betty's relief, she saw the robot gliding over to her in a distance, with the ground still shaking. By the time he had gotten to her, the situation was very critical. "I'm sorry Betty. Sparky was completely out of my reach. My best was not enough," he said. Betty could only hear every other word as the surface was becoming more and more unstable.

Everything happened in one second. Maximus' ship blasting off in the air... Betty's continuous shouting... all in one second. A horrible silence followed everything. Atomic Betty had both arms on the ground; she stared at them without even noticing that X-5 had moved the rock that was on her leg. She could not think of the pain anymore. Sparky was gone.

"Maximus left Armvarn half-way through conquering it. He had about 95 of the population captured," X-5 noted.

"No," Betty said. "Maximus was never after the planet, or the people. It has something to do with that girl... she said her name was Cindy." She drew her attention away from the sky and looked at X-5. "Do you know anything about her, X-5?"

"I'm afraid not," X-5 responded bluntly. For once, there was nothing more that he could say. He knew as much as Betty did, which was extremely limited.

Atomic Betty looked away from X-5 and to her damaged leg. Although she was barely able to stand, she put most of her weight on the other leg to avoid more pain than she was already feeling. _Sparky_... she said to herself. How could she be so careless? How could she let Maximus get away like that? And for that matter, since when was Maximus able to win for once? _No.. he hasn't won yet.._ she thought. He definitely had the upper hand, but she would get Sparky back, despite the fact that Maximus had a new subordinate helping him out.. and a good one for that matter.

"What do we do now, captain?" X-5 said, breaking Betty's thinking process.

"First.." she commenced. It was hard to say this because the first thing she wanted to do was get into the ship and save Sparky, but it had to be done. "We have to free the civilians of Armvarn. I can imagine how uncomfortable those red rings around them must be, despite their happiness. After that, we'll find Sparky and-"

"If I can make a suggestion.." X-5 interrupted. "You're not in adequate condition to help the civilians. And even if you try, you will only make your leg in a more critical state. I recommend staying in the ship and resting for a bit while I deal with the people of Armvarn."

"But X-5.. all those people.. it'll take a long time to-"

"No need for underestimation, captain. I'll work as quickly as possible. You know very well of your condition, so it would be best if you let your wound heal."

Betty decided not to argue with X-5 since time kept on going and Maximus' spaceship continued to fly through space.

X-5 flew towards the populated area at top speed while Betty made sure her balance was alright. Damaged and heavy with heartache for not being able to protect a comrade, Betty made her way to the ship. For the first time, she felt like a failure. She could have prevented all this.. could she not? She was unprepared and that led to what happened.

As she grabbed the door of the spaceship with both hands, she looked over to the area where the Armvarn civilians left. The sun of their solar system was just about to set, presenting a strange beauty across the horizon. It reminded Betty that even though a situation may be tough, it was in her blood to never give up.

"I'm sorry Sparky. But don't worry, I'll find you."

* * *

Do you like the story so far? Please review! It makes me and my self esteem happy. Also, check my profile for constant updates on my writing process! 


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